A Separate Peace
by sforzando
Summary: Inspired by the novel by John Knowles. Meryl was a lonely, introverted intellectual. Vash was a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happened between them at school is the subject of A Separate Peace.


I looked up into the sky, azure and slightly streaked with white. He was telling me to climb the goddamn tree. He was shouting at me, brandishing his gaunt arms. I shook my head, no. But before I knew it, Nick was nudging me towards the rungs.  
  


"Aw, come on now! It's easy as hell!" Vash shouted with his usual dorky smile. He was perched firmly on that limb, that goddamn limb.   
  


I sighed and gripped the first rung. It seemed quite precarious to me. Climbing with a sort of prudent agility, I finally reached the spot where I last saw Vash. Now he was treading water in the river; the clear, sharp, crystalline waters that still evoke a wave of nostalgia.  
  


"Enjoying the view, Meryl? Just jump already!" He yelled as he cupped his mouth.  
  


I gave him a smile, and then leaped.   
  


Falling, falling, falling, and then BAM! I kicked to the surface and looked around. He had disappeared.   
  


"Vash!" As I called, I felt a tug on my right leg, and then I went under.  
  


Through blurred vision, I saw the bubbles erupt from his mouth as the corners of his lips curved into a smile. I tried to kick him off, but he just pulled me down harder. I opened my mouth to yell, but I just choked on water. His angelic hair danced about him, and then he shot upward; realization had finally dawned on him as he let go of me.  
  


I swam furiously towards the surface and felt my head begin to spin. Finally, after reaching the atmosphere, I gasped violently for air. After I climbed onto the bank, I shook my head and found his feet in front of me.   
  


I looked up and narrowed my eyes. His softened in apology. He helped me up and then didn't hesitate to embrace me with virile strength. And then I had lost all of my indignation, and I closed my eyes. He had that kind of a hold on me (no pun intended). Maybe it was because he was the best athlete in the school, the most chivalrous and handsome man you could ever meet, but more so because I was a girl. The only one in the school. And, of course, female emotions in a sea of male ones are always rather ambivalent.   
  


He treated me just like his other friends. Only in moments like this could I see the true difference. But I quickly pushed him away with a blush fairly visible.   
  


He smiled devilishly and brought his hands to his mouth. With an effeminate touch, he added, "Awww, you like me! You really do!"  
  


I scoffed, and then with a sly grin, butted him to the ground. He blinked in surprise, and I started running back to the dorms.   
  


I turned around and saw him scrambling up, chasing after me. Wolfwood, or rather, Noisome Nick, perambulated leisurely behind us.   
  


I heard the thud of his heavy footsteps, and before I knew it, I was tackled to the ground. After three minutes of wrestling, I had gotten a nice restraining grip on him; the kind they used in the police force.  
  


"Bah! I give up!" He screeched as his fingers clawed the ground.  
  


Smirking, I got off him and helped him up.  
  


"You know, for a girl, you sure got a strong arm."  
  


I frowned. "For a girl?"  
  


He scratched the back of his head. "Naturally."  
  


As we walked to the cafeteria, I made sure to give him a hell of a good punch in the arm.   
  


He winced, and then looked dreamily at the horizon. "What do you say we skip dinner? I'm not hungry."  
  


"I am."  
  


"Aw, come on!"  
  


I looked at him, and then waved for Wolfwood to come over to make the decision.   
  


That's just how it was. We did everything together. In a three-some. Because we liked it that way; it's how we inherently were.  
  


~~~  
  


I lay on my cot reading something in Latin when I heard Wolfwood and Vash both snicker slyly.   
  


Looking up, I saw that Vash was wearing holding a carton of beer.   
  


"VASH! WHAT THE HELL!????" I scrambled out of bed and tried to take it away from him. He just held it higher over his head.  
  


"Shhhh!!!! Meryl!!!!! Do you want to get us to get caught or something!?" He grinned.  
  


"US!?" I fumed. "First, I would never drink that shit. Second, I'm not going to let you two kill your brains and die trying. How the hell did you get it in the first place!?"  
  


Silence. I looked at him. He had already drunk one. He threw one to Wolfwood, who chugged it, emulating Vash.   
  


Being preppy schoolboys, they had never done anything of the sort before. So, of course, they were inebriated by their first bottle.   
  


"VASH! NICK! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TH-"  
  


Nick had gotten up from the floor and taken my wrist.   
  


"Come on now, shorty. Do you really want us to get caught?"  
  


"No, but I also don't want you to hurt yourselves either!"  
  


He glanced at Vash, who winked at him.   
  


"Okay," Nick started. "We won't drink any more tonight. It's ten now; after hours, and you need to get back to your dorm."  
  


I stared coldly at both of them. "I'm taking your beer."  
  


A simultaneous "WHAT!?" arised.  
  


"Do you think I'm that moronic? I don't trust you," I stated frankly.  
  


"We prooooooooomise Meryl!" Nick pleaded.  
  


"Yeah! We won't drink nothing anymore!"  
  


"Then why do you want it?"  
  


They looked at each other.   
  


"I'm taking your beer."  
  


"Fine." Vash said. Nick stared at him, mouth agape. Vash gave him a small smile. Nick understood.  
  


I looked at both of them and sighed. "You guys promise not to sneak into my room, steal the beer, get drunk, and rape me?"  
  


They both laughed and nodded furiously. "Scout's honor!" Vash smiled deviously.  
  


I had absolutely no reason to trust him and all the reason to suspect something. But I did nothing but go back to my dorm with the beer.  
  


~~~  
  


It was half an hour later as I lay in bed when I heard a huge crash from the dorm across the hall. Vash and Nick's dorm.   
  


Sure enough, they were drunk. And possession of drugs in this school was enough for a criminal record; I didn't even want to think about inebriation.

I rushed both of them into their respective beds. They had, apparently, a second carton.  
  


"If I hear a peep out of either of you, you're both dead," I whispered harshly.  
  


"R-r-r-r-right shorty. N-n-n-othing outta' either of usssss…." Nick smiled goofily.  
  


Running quickly to Vash's table and grabbing his stone paperweight, I turned off their light and shut their door silently behind me.   
  


I sat in the middle of the stairs, hugging my knees and rocking back and forth slowly. I had even tried to shed a few tears. The dorm head had rushed up the stairs and started heading towards me.   
  


Taking the paperweight, I crashed it against the floor, pretending to be half-asleep.  
  


"No… YOU CAN'T! PLEASE DON'T GO!" I screamed as I slammed it again on the floor.  
  


I then held my head and cried in agony. Our dorm master rushed up and shook me violently.  
  


"Meryl! Meryl! Meryl, wake up!"  
  


I opened my eyes languidly. "Wha-what? What are you doing in my room?" I blinked at him. "Wait, where am I!?"  
  


He sighed, "You must have been sleepwalking. Bad dream?"  
  


I looked at him and then buried my head into my hands. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"  
  


"I-It's okay… would you like to go to the nurse?"  
  


I shook my head. "Oh, sir, I'm so sorry! It just, it was horrible!"  
  


"Just, well, I suppose you couldn't have known… just get back to bed, Stryfe."  
  


I stood up and bowed. "Thank you, sir."  
  


He nodded in a rushed manner and walked briskly back to the stairs.  
  


I started towards my door, opened it, locked it, and then closed it. I ran quietly back to their room and opened their door.   
  


Placing Vash's paperweight back on the desk, I ran to his bed first.   
  


"Vash, Vash!" I shook him. He rolled over and stared at me. And then he threw up.  
  


I bit my lip to prevent any potential screaming. And then I helped him away from his dirtied covers. I placed one of his arms over my shoulder to support him.   
  


I walked him over to their trashcan. "Empty yourself in here."  
  


He looked at me with weary eyes and began his purging. I rubbed his back to make him feel a little better, and I coughed to cover up the choking noises he was making. When he had finished, he wavered slowly back and forth. I grabbed him and set him gently on the floor. He stared emptily into space. "…Sorry, Meryl…"  
  


I sighed. "We can talk about this later. Right now, you just need to get better real fast."   
  


He nodded slightly. I went to wrap up his covers. "You're gonna have to throw this out. And you're lucky I have some extra blankets in my closet."  
  


I then walked to Wolfwood and helped him to the trashcan also. After both of them had regained some sort of reasoning, I went to my room and got the extra covers. After I went back to their room, I threw them at Vash and said nothing for the rest of the night. And I had decided to spend it there to make sure that they were okay. It was because we were friends, and that was the kind of thing we did for each other.   
  


~~~  
  


The next morning, they both had huge hangovers. Of course they did. I helped them with everything except changing. I left them to do their thing with that, and I went to my room to do my thing. I also let them shower on their own. Being the only girl, I had a personal bathroom. They, however, needed to use the public vicinities. Something I was forbidden from entering.   
  


I met them at seven to throw away their cartons, bottles and sheets. I had run as fast as I could to the huge trash bin downstairs, and I threw our goods in it as quickly and quietly as I could.  
  


Then we went to breakfast.  
  


~~~  
  


We were all taking Trigonometry because we were seniors. It was in that class that an emergency assembly was summoned. Nick, Vash, and I had all turned quite pale after hearing the announcement.  
  


The headmaster stood at the front of the auditorium. He coughed and waited for everyone to settle down.   
  


"As you all know," he began solemnly. "We run a very strict and decorous school here. I'm sure that the policies and regulations have been well drilled into your head."  
  


"Well, to be frank and get straight to my point, we had emptied the trash bins of the senior dorm this morning, and there were quite a number of bottles found," he paused to let his words be assimilated. "Beer bottles."  
  


There was a sea of whispers, and he cleared his throat to regain our attention. "The penalties and consequences of the intoxication will be severe. However, a confession will be taken into consideration when deriving the appropriate punishment."  
  


Another wave of muttering. "On the one hand, you can confess and have a lighter punishment," he paused. "Or we can fingerprint the bottles. Either way, the culprit will be caught."  
  


Silence. He waited for someone to speak. There was nothing.  
  


"Meryl Stryfe, I would very much like to confer with you after the assembly."  
  


I nodded, and I felt my hands grow clammy and trembling. Vash put his hand atop mine to try to console me, but nothing could have done that.  
  


"Dismissed," he ended caustically.   
  


I got up, and trudged towards the exit, following the headmaster. Vash and Nick made it a point to trail behind us.  
  


I entered into the headmaster's office, and he gestured towards the chair opposite his. He put his hands on the desk between us and cleared his throat.  
  


"Ah, Meryl… or, rather, Ms. Stryfe…"  
  


"Yes?"  
  


"I've been informed of your incident last night."  
  


"Uh, sir?"  
  


He paused. "It appears to me that this drinking and your, er, epoch of insanity, to put it candidly, was extremely coincidental. Was it not?"  
  


"I suppose so, sir."  
  


He cleared his throat again. "You are one of our school's top students, and I presume that you would not lie about this."  
  


I nodded.  
  


"Were you or were you not intoxicated last night?"  
  


"I was not, sir."  
  


He looked at me with a hawk's eye. "I see. Then, may I ask, what sparked your, eh, incident?"  
  


I tugged at the ends of my shirt. "Well, sir, it happened a lot when I was home. It's usually stress that triggers it. I'm sorry for the disturbance."  
  


"If you don't mind my asking, what is it that you dreamt of?"  
  


"My family."  
  


"Your family?"  
  


"My family was murdered when I was ten." That, actually, was the truth.   
  


"I'm sorry to hear that."  
  


"That's fine."  
  


"Do you know anything about the drinking?"  
  


I paused. "I'm sorry sir, but all I remember is waking up in the hallway. I didn't hear anything." I hated lying, but I had gotten so good at it.  
  


He looked at me as if in lingering doubt. "Well, I suppose that we'll need to begin fingerprinting the bottles tonight," he glanced at me. "Just to make sure."  
  


"Yes, sir."  
  


He looked at me with surprise, as if he was expecting me to have a qualm attack. But I was fine. I had a plan.   
  


"Well, Ms. Stryfe, I suppose that you should be getting to your class now?"  
  


"Yes, sir."  
  


"In that case, you are dismissed."  
  


"Thank you, sir."  
  


I strode to the door to find Vash and Nick waiting beside the office.  
  


"Did you guys…?" I led them to class.  
  


"We heard everything, yeah." Vash muttered. "I guess all of us are going to be going home soon."  
  


I heard Nick curse.   
  


"Not necessarily," I smiled without looking back at them.  
  


"What?' Vash tugged on my shirt.   
  


"I know what we can do, you know, to prevent that. I'm assuming that either of you didn't touch the other bottles that you gave me?"  
  


They both nodded quickly, wanting to know more.  
  


"Well, we need to empty them and replace the ones they have with these ones."  
  


"What?" Nick shook his head.   
  


"We'll be using gloves," Vash grinned. "Naturally."  
  


"Right," I winked at them. "And because they probably counted the bottles, and our replacement would be four short, we could just roll four of the ones they have now in mud."  
  


"Why not roll all of the ones they have in mud?" Nick said  
  


"Because then it would be conspicuous," I answered.  
  


~~~  
  


That night, Vash and I carried out the operation while Nick kept guard. Everything had turned out fine, too.  
  


Naturally, all went downhill from there.  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Yes, this is based *slightly* off of A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I could give a synopsis of it, but it makes no difference to this story. It was more or less an English project that evolved into a fanfic. I have the next chapter ready for revision. I'll only update if I get a fairly respectable amount of reviews.

  
  


This chapter was for character development. Although there will be a heck of a lot more of that, I can promise the picking up of the plotline. Yes, there is a plotline. It actually involves self-mutilation, denial, the entrance of two more familiar ladies of the series, suicide, death, etc. etc. I dunno, maybe I'll actually FINISH this one!


End file.
